There are calls for a review of how £100,000 of public money was given to support the launch of a Welsh language news service that is to close five months later.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on the Welsh Government to look at how money granted to Newsquest for the Welsh-language news service Corgi Cymru was spent and if it will ever be repaid. Newsquest was awarded a £100,000 annual grant, which was intended to continue for four years, by the Aberystwyth-based Welsh Books Council which in turn received the funds from the Welsh Government.
The NUJ's Welsh Executive Council wants to see an urgent review as the Welsh language current affairs magazine Golwg360 had had its annual grant of £200,000 halved to provide Corgi with the £100,000 a year. Corgi Cymru, the brainchild of former S4C digital executive Huw Marshall, will be terminated at the end of October having only begun in April. It follows the closure of the English-language The National website earlier this year.
Nick Powell, chair of the NUJ’s Welsh Executive Council, sent a letter to Dawn Bowden, deputy minister for arts and sport, saying: "The NUJ has written to you twice with questions about the process by which Newsquest was granted public money for the Welsh-language news service Corgi Cymru from the Books Council of Wales. Our disquiet grew following Newsquest's decision to end The National, especially given the decision to entrust money to them again despite its earlier failure with the subbing hub at Newport.”
Newsquest launched The National Wales as a website on March 1, 2021 – St David’s Day – at the same time as rival Herald News UK launched its own Wales-wide effort, herald.wales. Newsquest’s venture intended to cover Welsh national news from a Welsh perspective and so offer an alternative to coverage by England-based publications. But just 18 months later, its regional editor said the site had become “unsustainable” following subscription declines and claimed competition from free news providers including the BBC had stymied growth attempts.
Mr Powell urged Ms Bowden to “instruct the Books Council of Wales to take urgent action to ensure that monies are repaid and that Golwg is adequately funded to provide a full Welsh language news service”.
NUJ national executive member for Wales David Nicholson said: “This is the second time that Newsquest has been given public funding in Wales and the second time it has pulled the plug on its projects. The NUJ has called on Dawn Bowden and the Senedd’s Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport and International Relations Committee to investigate how Newsquest received funding from the Books Council of Wales, what safeguards were put in place and whether the money the company received will be repaid.
“This sorry episode demonstrates a need for Wales to have an independent media foundation to ensure that public money used to support journalism is used in the most effective way possible, and to promote and protect public interest journalism.”
Newsquest also publishes the South Wales Argus in Newport, Western Telegraph in Pembrokeshire, Barry and District News, Penarth Times and other titles in south Wales.
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